plugged in

I first attended the Plug Independent Music Awards in 2005, shortly after I had moved to New York and joined the ranks at eMusic. I couldn’t think of a better event to mark the beginning of my employment at a company that is so focused on the passionate spirit of music.

I have always been knee deep in music outside the mainstream, but still I found myself introduced to acts that I had never been exposed to and between the line up that evening and the amazing depth of our editorial contributors I quickly realized that I had but scratched the surface of the musical goldmine that few have the fortune of stumbling upon. I went primarily to see The Dillinger Escape Plan, but I was shocked when practically every other act on the bill that night (RJD2, Aesop Rock, Saul Williams, Ted Leo / Pharmacists and Sufjan Stevens) was both unfamiliar and mind-blowing to me. March 6th will be the first time I have been back since that unforgettable night, and as you can see from the following performers and nominees this year, I couldn’t have picked a better year to return.

I had initially wanted to create a totally comprehensive page detailing all the acts performing at this year’s ceremony AND every album/artist nominated that was available on eMusic, in every category. After 6 hours of insomnia working on it I decided that was a stupid idea, at least to the extent that I was originally planning.

The most exciting part to me is the actual event. Especially considering Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are headlining. While we don’t seem to have Mr. Cave on-site currently, we do have just about every other performer to one degree or another.

Patton Oswald is presenting this year, and performers include St. Vincent, Dizzee Rascal, The Forms, Jose Gonzalez, DJ Sally Shapiro, and DiViNCi (who is also a member of Solillaquists of Sound - not available on eMusic in the US unfortunately, Europe only). Not a bad little line up, although I still don’t think it comes near topping my first time round. With Nick Cave as the exception of course.

Now comes the fun part. I am going to try to post links for every nominee we have in the general category (the obsessive category gets a bit more esoteric and there is quite a bit of overlap) as fast as I can. Ok, deep breath…

Album of the year: Arcade Fire - Neon Bible, Beirut - The Flying Club Cup, El-P - I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, Panda Bear - Person Pitch, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights, Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, The National - Boxer

New aritst of the year: Battles, Dan Deacon, Deerhunter, Los Campesinos!, St. Vincent, Vampire Weekend, White Rabbits, Yeasayer

Female artist of the year: Annie Clark (St. Vincent), Bettye LaVette, Emily Haines, Emma Pollock, Marissa Nadler, Marnie Stern, Nina Nastasia, Sally Shapiro, Scout Niblett, Sharon Jones

Male artist of the year: (Nick Cave is also in this category) Andrew Bird, Dan Deacon, Devendra Banhart, El-P, Jens Lekman, John Vanderslice, José González, Kevin Barnes (of Of Montreal), Noah Lennox (Panda Bear), Zach Condon (Beirut), Sam Beam (Iron & Wine)

Indie rock album of the year: Arcade Fire - Neon Bible, Deerhunter - Cryptograms, Les Savy Fav - Let’s Stay Friends, Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, Okkervil River - The Stage Names, Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover, The National - Boxer, The New Pornographers - Challengers

So far lots of indie, nothing very suprising and lots of overlap. This is where things start getting a little more interesting (at least to me).

Americana album of the year: Angels Of Light - We Are Him, Charlie Louvin - Charlie Louvin, José González - In Our Nature, Oakley Hall - I’ll Follow You, Ola Podrida - Ola Podrida, The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism, The Cave Singers - Invitation Songs

Metal album of the year \m/ Baroness - Red Album, Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb, Watain - Sworn To The Dark (OK so a little light on this year’s metal picks).

Hip-Hop album of the year: Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass, Black Milk - Popular Demand, Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English, El-P - I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, Lifesavas - Gutterfly:The Original Soundtrack, Little Brother - Getback, Prodigy - Return Of The Mac

Punk album of the year: Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil, Future Of The Left - Curses, Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!, Magik Markers - Boss, Marnie Stern - In Advance Of The Broken Arm, No Age - Weirdo Rippers

Electronic/dance album of the year: Caribou - Andorra, Dan Deacon - Spiderman Of The Rings, Matthew Dear - Asa Breed, Modeselektor - Happy Birthday!, Sally Shapiro - Disco Romance

DJ album of the year: Henrik Schwarz - Live -Ouch, schooled by metal!

Avant album of the year: Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum, Dirty Projectors - Rise Above, Eluvium - Copia, Eric Copeland - Hermaphrodite, HEALTH - HEALTH, Holy Fuck - LP, Sunburned Hand Of The Man - Fire Escape

I guess that’s all. I think I am going to be sick from linking too much. I probably missed some stuff available in other regions, but that’s all I can stomach for today. I think listing the winners should be much easier…